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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 01:43:03 pm

Title: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 01:43:03 pm: Hey everyone I have a hacked TV Remote to power on TV. My question is this. I have extended the IR and it works great. The thing is right now I have taken the top platic part off of the remote. I also have taken out the rubbery buttons. I have a + and a - wire running to where the power switch is on the pcb of the universal remote. Here is the thing though. I couldn't figure out a way to hold these wires to the pcb. I used black electric tape. It is good, but if I barely wiggle the wire to move things in the cab it comes off the pcb. Is there anyway to keep the wires on that little area of the remote without it moving so bad. I don't see how I could solder these wire because there is no little hole to solder them to like the IR had.

It works, but it is a hassle to push down on the pcb and make sure the tape stays. I have tried rubberbands as well. Those suck.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: gonzobrian on January 31, 2007, 01:54:42 pm: Have you tried hot glue?
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 02:12:39 pm: I have not tried that. Very interesting...That may just work, and if I screw up I can prolly remove it easy with my fingernail or something.

Anyone else try the hot glut gun trick????
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: steveh on January 31, 2007, 03:00:50 pm: please take a picture. if it is what i am thinking it is... you should just solder it down.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 06:04:54 pm: I will take a picture of it tonight and get it posted. I suppose I could solder it, I just don't want to melt the board or anything.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 06:06:52 pm: Here is a pic I got from the Best Buy site. I will get you an actual pic of the remote in my cab tonight though.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: Loki on January 31, 2007, 06:33:23 pm: Huh? Is that a 3rd party Xbox remote or something? =/
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 01, 2007, 11:00:39 am: RCA actually had this one out around the same time as the Xbox remote. I think RCA made it for Xbox. This is just a universal TV RCA Remote.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: crashwg on February 01, 2007, 11:21:37 am: You should definitely solder it. Just scrape off whatever coating is on the contacts and use a 15-30w iron, a little flux and a little solder and it will be better than anything electric-wise...
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: steveh on February 01, 2007, 01:22:31 pm: Quote from: rdowdy95 on January 31, 2007, 06:06:52 pm
Here is a pic I got from the Best Buy site. I will get you an actual pic of the remote in my cab tonight though.

what i wanted to see was the inside not the outside of the remote. i would need to see what the contacts look like that you are trying to connect to. Hot Glue does not seam like the answer
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 01, 2007, 01:35:55 pm: Dang camera wasn't charged last night. I will get that pic on here tonight though of the inside. Let you guys take a looksie!
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 03, 2007, 09:53:01 am: Sorry it took soo long but here is the best remote pic I could take. I can anser more questions if you have them about this remote.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: blueznl on February 03, 2007, 11:48:58 am: Image isn't very good but looks like a regular PCB. Time to fire up the soldering iron!
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 03, 2007, 12:54:15 pm: See how it has the little black things. Right. On the PCB the little black spots on the PCB well those are where the buttons hit if I had the rubber buttons on. So I guess like you say just to make sure though. I tin the red and black wire and solder them both to the little black part part of the PCB where the power button goes right? My solder skills suck bad, but I did manage to solder the IR Diode and extend the wires to the front of the TV. So I hope I just don't screw this up. I do have the desolder roll stuff though. Is it hard to get the solder to stick to the PCB? Cause this will be the first time I ever solder something that didn't have holes to solder through.

Also do I have to make the red and black wire be seperate, or can I solder them together then solder to the pcb. This is going to be tough.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: blueznl on February 03, 2007, 02:17:02 pm: Don't cook it too long, and make sure you've cleaned the spots properly before soldering, and it should be a breeze. Drop a little solder on the spot and pre-tin the wire and it should be easy.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 03, 2007, 05:57:09 pm: Thanks man. I will give it a go. Do you think I can twist the positive and negative wire together first then solder it to the spot or do I need to keep them seperate kind of like I have them now?
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: blueznl on February 04, 2007, 10:00:45 am: I don't think twisting is going to make much of a difference if the cabling is not too long. I assume you mean 'side 1 and side 2' of the switch? :-)
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: Fozzy The Bear on February 04, 2007, 10:37:20 am: Quote from: rdowdy95 on February 03, 2007, 05:57:09 pm
Thanks man. I will give it a go. Do you think I can twist the positive and negative wire together first then solder it to the spot or do I need to keep them seperate kind of like I have them now?

This Won't work!!!!

Contrary to the suggestion made..... you can't solder directly to the black carbon pads. The solder simply will not adhere to them properly, if at all.

You need to gently scrape away the black stuff untill you see copper underneath it. You can then solder to that.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 04, 2007, 04:16:14 pm: Hey Fozzy what do you recommend that I use to scrap off the black carbon part of the remote? Exacto blade or a straight razor perhaps?
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: squirrellydw on February 04, 2007, 04:28:31 pm: Quote
Hey everyone I have a hacked TV Remote to power on TV. My question is this. I have extended the IR and it works great.

Just wondering why you are doing this? Did it not power on the TV before? :dunno
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 04, 2007, 04:40:18 pm: It does work right now, but if the wires get jiggled a little bit I always have to go back there and press the tape back down. I guess once I get the cab in the room it will be in, I won't have to worry about a little 2.5 year old messing with my wires. LOL! It will be up against a wall.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: blueznl on February 04, 2007, 04:44:13 pm: Oh, I'm sorry, I thought he already scratched off the black stuff! Obviously you'll have to remove anything but the bare copper and / or tinned surface.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: Teebor on February 04, 2007, 05:04:32 pm: Exacto or just straight razor blade, be careful not to dig too deep though, test some buttons that are not important first.

Its always difficult when doing things like this, so try lightly scraping at it first to see how easily it comes away
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: fjl on February 04, 2007, 05:07:29 pm: You can use a blade to scrape it off or some fine sandpaper. Once the shiny metal is exposed, heat it with the soldering iron and treat with some flux. The flux will assure that when you add the solder, it will stick firmly to the exposed metal. You should also treat the ends of the wire with flux.
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: steveh on February 05, 2007, 11:06:33 am: to get the carbon off use some sandpaper, i actually stole one of the womans emery boards (the nail file things) and used that to scrap off black stuff. worked like a charm. Just remember you want to keep the 2 sides separate so when you press the button or whatever it is you are using. it bridges the connection. I have seen where people have used a dremel to clear away the middle swirls to make sure the accidental connections do not happen. good luck..
Title: Re: Question to people who have hacked a TV Remote.
Post by: rdowdy95 on February 05, 2007, 11:57:29 pm: thanks steven that was the main thing, to keep the two sides seperate. I will prolly just use a little solder cause tere isnt much room in between them, but I usually will put my red wire on the left and the black one on the right. I will use some fine grit piece of 600 grit to sand it smooth. I will be doing this later though. Prolly if my tape loosens up. Right now it works fine, and it is staying good. Once I move cab to the room it is going in, porly won't ever have to mess with, but it is just nice to know I can solder it for good if I need to.